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I just graduated from college in May and after years of wanting to do it, I'm going to move to NYC. I grew up in small towns in Western NY (near Rochester, Buffalo), then went to college in Baltimore. Now I'm living back with my mom about an hour and a half from Philly.

My plan is to get into publishing (ideally magazines, but book publishing and online media would work also... for now). Right now I'm looking for jobs in Philly and working on my portfolio/getting more experience. I know New York is a crazy place to live - I'm not too concerned about money, since I can bank most of what I make for the next year until I move out to NY, and I'm extremely low-maintenance.

Anyway - I'd really like some advice on the publishing industry in NY - I don't know that my resume/portfolio is quite strong enough yet for the city. So to any of you who were/are in the industry, or know someone - any information would be useful. I'm a Journalism/Graphics major so advice on either end would be great. What can I do to be a strong candidate in NYC?

I just graduated from college in May and after years of wanting to do it, I'm going to move to NYC. I grew up in small towns in Western NY (near Rochester, Buffalo), then went to college in Baltimore. Now I'm living back with my mom about an hour and a half from Philly.

My plan is to get into publishing (ideally magazines, but book publishing and online media would work also... for now). Right now I'm looking for jobs in Philly and working on my portfolio/getting more experience. I know New York is a crazy place to live - I'm not too concerned about money, since I can bank most of what I make for the next year until I move out to NY, and I'm extremely low-maintenance.

Anyway - I'd really like some advice on the publishing industry in NY - I don't know that my resume/portfolio is quite strong enough yet for the city. So to any of you who were/are in the industry, or know someone - any information would be useful. I'm a Journalism/Graphics major so advice on either end would be great. What can I do to be a strong candidate in NYC?

Thanks so much !

I am glad to see this question asked. I am a writer and I was wondering about jobs in that field.

If money is not an issue go for it. Publishing, well book publishing, does not pay anything. I did it for five years and I loved my company but I was making no money whatsoever. Do it for the love if books are your passion. I have a degree in art / graphics and because I sucked at it I went into production. Unless you have experience you will most likely start out at the bottom...the very bottom no matter what job your going for in publishing. But like I said, if you have a passion for the publishing industry, go for it. Despite the laughable pay, I loved every minute of it.
If you cannot find an artistic or design position see if there are any production openings. Those positions usually require some sort of art background since they interface heavily with printers and art departments and freelancers.

I also came from the book publishing industry, first as a copywriter and later, a direct mail manager. It's a field with a phenomenal rep--you're almost guaranteed to make others green with envy if you tell them you're in publishing. But the pay is, as mentioned, not nearly as phenomenal. And with companies being bought out all the time (it happened to me twice, which was when I got out of that loop) job security is shaky at best.

But get your resume out there; the bottom line is, it's better to have a job than not to have one!

Money is definitely not the issue. As long as I can make enough for living in New York, I'll be fine. Publishing is definitely what I want to do, and no better place than NYC, right? Can I ask what the production end would be like? I mean, I don't really have any experience with that so I'm not sure what I would need to know to work on that end. With just my college degree, and some school-related publishing projects, would I be able to get an entry-level position in the city? So many job descriptions say they require years of experience for entry-level jobs and I'm concerned that I wouldn't be able to get a job there since it's so competitive. As I said, I'm not looking to make a lot of money, as long as I can live in the city with the salary.

Quote:

Originally Posted by schiphol

If money is not an issue go for it. Publishing, well book publishing, does not pay anything. I did it for five years and I loved my company but I was making no money whatsoever. Do it for the love if books are your passion. I have a degree in art / graphics and because I sucked at it I went into production. Unless you have experience you will most likely start out at the bottom...the very bottom no matter what job your going for in publishing. But like I said, if you have a passion for the publishing industry, go for it. Despite the laughable pay, I loved every minute of it.
If you cannot find an artistic or design position see if there are any production openings. Those positions usually require some sort of art background since they interface heavily with printers and art departments and freelancers.

This is really useful information - as far as job security goes, my main question is if companies are bought out frequently, and then I have to find a new job, would it be terribly difficult to find a new one? The idea of having to switch jobs a lot doesn't so much bother me, but if it's really difficult to find another one when that happens, then I'll be concerned...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fred314X

I also came from the book publishing industry, first as a copywriter and later, a direct mail manager. It's a field with a phenomenal rep--you're almost guaranteed to make others green with envy if you tell them you're in publishing. But the pay is, as mentioned, not nearly as phenomenal. And with companies being bought out all the time (it happened to me twice, which was when I got out of that loop) job security is shaky at best.

But get your resume out there; the bottom line is, it's better to have a job than not to have one!

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